Into the Woods
by foreverliesl28
Summary: Sometimes you have to go into the woods, where nothing's clear, where witches, ghosts, and wolves appear. What happens when James and Lily have to work together as Head Boy and Girl? Songfic to various Broadway showtunes.
1. Chapter 1: Overture

**Disclaimer**: Okay, this is going to take awhile. JKR owns all the characters except the ones you don't know, various Broadway composers own the songs, and I own everything else. Got it?

**A/N**: Here's a story that I have up on it's one of my first, so constructive criticism is more than welcome! I have 6 chapters of this written, because I've been working on it since like around last March-ish so I'll post those soon!! Then I'll keep working from there. Enjoy!!!

**Disclaimer**: This chapter is just called "Overture" like as in the opening of a show. The first two lines are just from "Do Re Mi" from "The Sound of Music". Enjoy! Toodles

Chapter One: Overture

_Let's start at the very beginning_

_A very good place to start…_

I can't believe it.

James Potter is Head Boy.

I hate it when this kind of dramatic irony happens.

I thought that being Head Girl would make things easier. Not with Potter on my case.

Here's what happened…

It was the summer before our seventh year at Hogwarts and we were all staying at Audrey's house. Audrey Summerfield is my best friend at Hogwarts. "We" is Audrey, me, and our two other best friends, Viviane Louis and Jeannie Hughes. We have the typical sort of group: I'm the smart one, Audrey's the creative one, Viviane's the gorgeous one, and Jeannie's the kind, if not slightly ditzy, one. Audrey's family's house is in London, very close to Diagon Alley.

We got our school letters about two weeks before the start of term. I was pleased (but not altogether surprised) to find that I had become Head Girl. We didn't really make a big deal about it. Yeah, we spent an hour jumping and screaming around Audrey's room, but otherwise, we were just silently happy. Later that day, we went into Diagon Alley to buy our books and everything. I just happened to pin my Head Girl badge to my robes. Nothing wrong with that, right?

We went into Flourish and Blott's to buy our schoolbooks. I was going to be taking N.E.W.T. level Defense Against the Dark Arts, Herbology, Potions, Transfiguration, and Charms—all of the required classes, in short, for an Auror. Audrey, Viv, and Jeannie were taking the same courses as me, so we split up to get our books. Viv went to get the new Transfiguration books, Audrey retrieved the Potions books, Jeannie fetched the Herbology books, and I was in charge of Defense Against the Dark Arts. I went to the shelves full of DADA books and began to search for the correct one. Then I saw four very undesirable people coming towards me: James Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew; the group that had dubbed itself "the Marauders." Immature, right?

But there was something different about Potter that I saw as he advanced towards me.

He had a smug smile on his face.

_  
And there was a Head Boy badge on his chest. _

"Nice badge, Evans," he said, smirking, as he and his gang arrived in front of me.

"How much did you have to pay Remus to let you wear his badge, Potter?" I retorted.

"Oh, you think that this badge is Moony's, do you?" said James smugly. "Nope, it's one hundred percent mine."

I looked at Remus questioningly. I was actually friends with Remus; he was smart and a bit more mature than his comrades. And he was a prefect, like me. I was certain that if Head Boy was going to be another Gryffindor, it would have definitely been Remus. However, he just looked down at his feet and shook his head. I stared at him, open-mouthed.

"Moony here nearly had a stroke when he saw that it was Prongs who got the badge," said Sirius, smirking as well, as though he could tell what I had just been thinking.

"B-but," I stammered, flabbergasted, "how could Potter become Head Boy? He isn't even a prefect!"

"Now, now," said James in a mock-soothing voice, "did Dumbledore ever actually say that to be Head Boy or Girl, you had to be a prefect?"

I struggled to remember if I had ever heard these words. Finally, I just sighed, rolled my eyes, and said, "You are so immature, Potter."

"You don't mean that, Evans. 'Immature' is a very strong word."

I rolled my eyes again and turned to walk away. I heard Potter call after me, "See you on the Hogwarts Express, Evans! Head Boy and Girl compartment, you know!" He and his friends sniggered. I walked off across the bookshop to the section on Herbology, the closest section to where I was standing.

"Guess who I just saw?" I said to Jeannie, coming up behind her and snapping the Herbology book that she had been reading shut.

"Who?" she asked vaguely, looking up from the closed book.

And I explained to her what had happened during my encounter with Potter and those ridiculous Marauders. Jeannie looked as shocked as I felt. Then she began to laugh.

"What's so funny about it?" I asked irritably.

"Y-you're going t-to be spending all y-your time w-with Potter this year!" Jeannie choked out between laughs. Before I could reply, Viv and Audrey had joined us, each carrying a tottering pile of textbooks.

"What's so funny?" asked Audrey, the top of her long brown hair just visible behind the textbooks, along with a few "Make Your Trunk Magically Sparkle and Shine" books and such.

I told the two new additions the gruesome tale. They both burst out laughing as well, dropping their books.

"I still don't get what's so funny," I growled.

"Because it will be hysterical for us to see you two at each others' throats day and night if you're stuck doing Head Boy and Girl stuff together!" Viv laughed.

"Hysterical for us, anyway," added Audrey. I rolled my eyes for what felt like the thousandth time that day. Why was everyone I knew so immature?

"Oh, lighten up, Lily," said Viv, tossing back her mane of long blonde hair. "You know we feel horrible for you. I mean, spending unlimited time alone with a gorgeous, popular Marauder is just sheer torture…"

I glared at her. "You know perfectly well that this is how I'm going to die this year, but I'm taking you down with me if I can manage it."

Audrey and Jeannie exchanged glances, grinning.

"Come on, Lil," said Audrey, taking my arm. "Let's get our books and leave before you can have any more traumatic encounters."

Even I had to smile. We all collected our books (that we had dropped or, in my case, hadn't even retrieved in the first place) and each paid for our own sets. Then, arm in arm, we left the shop together.

All too soon, it was September 1. In my letter from school, there were instructions for the train ride. James and I were to first go to the Head Boy and Girl compartment at the front of the train. We were to then discuss our ideas for the first event we were to organize, the Yule Ball. We then had to patrol the corridors for about an hour. Then we were free to do whatever we pleased for the rest of the ride.

So my friends and I arrived at King's Cross Station. We thanked Mr. and Mrs. Summerfield for a wonderful summer holiday, then dragged our trunks onto the train. Viv and I each had an owl cage as well. Mine was a snowy female named Airlya. The four of us found an empty compartment. I left my trunk and cage in the compartment, then, most regretfully, made my way to the Head Boy and Girl compartment, pinning my Head Girl badge to my t-shirt (I wouldn't change into my robes until later).

I arrived at the compartment. James was smirking at me through the door, patting the empty seat next to him with a look of utmost smugness on his face.

Urgh.

It was going to be a LONG train ride.

A/N: Hope you likie! I'll update soon! In case you're wondering again, I like reviews. wink wink Thanks!!

Yours faithfully,

foreverliesl


	2. Chapter 2: Loathing

Chapter Two: Loathing

**Disclaimer**: This one's "Loathing" from the show "Wicked." (my personal favorite!)

**A/N**: Three words: I like reviews!

"Ugh." I sat down in the empty seat next to James, closing the door as I stepped into the compartment. "Let's just get this over with, okay?"

"If you say so," said James, smirking.

"So what do you think the theme should be? I have a few ideas already," I said, pulling a notepad and quill out of my pocket, where I had already taken about nineteen pages of notes.

"Wow. You really _don't_ have a life," said James, looking at my notes.

I rolled my eyes. "I thought the theme should be something with snow. LOTS of snow. The magic kind. And winter flowers."

James crinkled his nose in disgust. "No way. _Way_ too girly."

I glared at him, closing my notepad. "Fine. What do you suggest we do?"

James grinned slyly. "I think there should be mistletoe everywhere. And when I say everywhere, I mean _everywhere_." Then, he added with a smirk, "That should keep you and your date happy."

For a moment, I didn't know what he meant. "Date?" I asked blankly. Then it dawned on me. "Oh no… oh no… no, you are _NOT_ going to be my date, Potter!"

"Actually, I heard somewhere," said James, still smirking. He glanced down at his Head Boy badge meaningfully. "I heard that Head Boy and Girl have to go _together_."

I stared at him. What the hell was he playing at? Nowhere in my letter had it said that I would have to go to the Yule Ball with Prat Potter, Git Potter, Potter-Whom-I-Will-Despise-Till-My-Dying-Day!

"No way. No _WAY_."

"Yes, way," said James smugly. "A dream come true, isn't it?"

"Where did it ever say that we had to go together?"

"It didn't," replied James, shrugging. "I heard it from last year's Head Boy. Apparently, he and his Head Girl are getting married soon." He added with a smirk, "Think that'll happen to us?"

I couldn't think of anything to say. This couldn't be happening. I hate irony.

"Of course," said James, "if you want, we could always do something together before then. To get used to everything, you know." He looked extremely pleased with himself.

Finally, I found my voice. "Never."

"Never is a long time, Evans," James said. "Come on, Evans, go out with me."

Cold fury was coursing through every inch of my body. I know that I should have been used to the age-old question by now, but under the circumstances, it just infuriated me even more. And I'm _not_ pretty when I'm angry.

"No," I shouted. "Potter, how thick are you, really? You think that four-hundred-and-ninety-fourth time's the charm, huh? Well, get this through your tiny brain! You're so full of yourself you can't stop and think that there is a slight chance that there is a person out there who _doesn't_ worship you! Potter, here's some news! I. HATE. YOU. And I always will! You're a git, you're a prat, you're a bully, and I can't stand you! I'll never go out with you! Deal with it!"

Panting as though I had just run a race, I realized that sometime during my rant, I had stood up. My fists were clenched at my sides so tightly that my knuckles were turning white. It felt like a huge relief to have these thoughts off of my chest, and I expected that these truth-filled words would just bounce off James's enormous ego like they usually did. However, his reaction was nothing I would have expected. His face fell and it looked like someone had punched him in the stomach. For a moment, he just sat there. Then, quite abruptly, he stood.

Not looking at me, he mumbled, "I'm going to go patrol the corridors. I'll see you around, Evans." He turned and opened the compartment door.

"P-Potter," I stammered. I had no idea that he would have taken it this way. I almost felt bad for saying those things to him. "I… I'm…" But I couldn't bring myself to apologize.

"It's okay," said James shortly, his hand still on the door handle, facing the nearly-empty corridor beyond. "I deserved that. I'll talk to you later, Evans." And he left.

I sat there, dumbfounded, for a moment. Unthinkingly, I sat down, then stood again. I walked out of the compartment as well. I patrolled the corridors for about a half an hour. James and my paths never crossed.

Once I was done patrolling, I entered the compartment that my friends and I had claimed earlier. I flopped into an empty seat and took a handful of chocolate frogs that were on a seat nearby.

"So," said Audrey, "what happened? You don't look very well…"

She was quite right. I was still quite white, though my eyes were still full of considerable fury. I told my three friends what happened in the Head Boy and Girl compartment. They looked quite astonished.

"Yeah," I said dully. "I have no idea why he took it so badly. Not that I care or anything…"

Viv smirked. "If I didn't know any better, I would think you actually felt _sorry_ for Potter."

"Never in a million years," I said. I took a bite of chocolate and immediately felt tons better. I smiled. "I still loathe Potter as much as I ever did. And that's a lot."

"That's our girl," laughed Jeannie, moving to the seat next to me and slinging her arm around my shoulders. "I knew we trained you well."

We spent a very pleasant afternoon talking and laughing on the Hogwarts Express. When we finally reached Hogsmede Station, it was the first time I didn't want to leave the train. I really didn't want to know what awaited me this year. Exams and Potter. Joy.

My friends and I trooped to the horseless carriages. There's a boy, Armillian Lovegood, in our year in Ravenclaw, who says that some creatures called thestrals draw the carriages, but everyone says he's mental.

We filled into a carriage and continued our enjoyable conversation. All too soon, we reached the wrought iron gates of the school. We walked through the great oak front doors of Hogwarts castle and entered the magnificent entrance hall. Potter and the so-called Marauders were walking a few paces ahead of us. I noticed that James didn't seem to be talking much. I heard someone call my name.

"Evans? Potter? A word, if you please," said Professor McGonagall, walking through the crowd to reach James and me.

Silently, James and I followed Professor McGonagall to her office, avoiding each others' gaze. We entered the room and sat down in the straight-backed wooden chairs, arms crossed, not looking at each other. Professor McGonagall sat down behind her desk and addressed us.

"As you obviously know," she said, "you are our new Head Boy and Girl."

James and I nodded.

"I am now going to tell you some of the things that will be required of you this year. You will be patrolling the castle corridors every few nights from eight o'clock to nine-forty-five in the evenings to make sure that students get back to their common rooms by curfew. Miss Evans will patrol on Mondays and Thursdays. Mr. Potter will take Tuesdays and Fridays. You will patrol together, as a pair, on Wednesdays, Saturdays, and Sundays."

I gaped at her. Three nights a week, stuck for an hour and forty-five minutes with _Potter_?!

"Yes, Miss Evans, together," said Professor McGonagall, answering my unasked question. "You must stay together. And I know your history, the pair of you. If I catch wind that you two have been bickering at all while you patrol, or any other time for that matter, I will remove your badges and we will choose a new Head Boy and Girl personally."

This couldn't be happening. Sucks to be me.

"You will receive further assignments later in the term. I will, of course, want regular reports about your progress with the Yule Ball. Do either of you have any questions?"

James and I were silent.

"Then, if that is all, I will accompany you down to the feast."

Mouths still tightly closed, James and I stood. The three of us left the office and walked silently down to the Great Hall. I couldn't believe my ears. What fun was it to spend time with Potter and not fight? Not that it was any fun anyway, of course.

Minutes later, I was sitting alongside Viv, Audrey, and Jeannie, telling them what Professor McGonagall had explained to James and I. They all laughed. Again. Such wonderful friends I have, no?

No fighting with James.

How could I not fight with him? I still loathed him and would loathe him my whole life long.

This was going to be interesting.

_Loathing_

_Unadulterated loathing_

_For your face,_

_Your voice,_

_Your clothing_

_Let's just say_

_I loathe it all_

_Every little trait however small_

_Makes my very flesh begin to crawl_

_With simple, utter loathing_

_There's a strange exhilaration_

_In such total detestation_

_It's so pure, so strong_

_Though I do admit, it came on fast _

_Still, I do believe that it can last_

_And I will be loathing,_

_Loathing you _

_My whole life long… _

A/N: Okay, it gets better! Maybe… o.O I'm also working on two other new ones: "Stuck on You" (another James/Lily) and "Harry Potter and Now for Something Completely Different" (a Trio-era humour fic). I'll update soon… and I like reviews! -Hermy528


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